Thane: The Vitthalwadi police on Sunday arrested a 25-year-old man for snatching a gold chain of a 47-year-old woman in Kalyan. The gold mangalsutra was worth Rs 1.35 lakhs. The police said the accused had lost money in online games and to cover it up he committed the theft.
The police said the complainant was identified as Priyanka Pradeep Mahadik, 47, a resident of Sheetal Apartment, Yogiraj Nagar, Katemanivali, Kalyan West. "The incident took place at 12 pm on October 14, on a public road near Sai Baba Mandir, Chinchapada village, Kalyan East. Mahadik was walking when the accused came and snatched her gold mangalsutra and fled away before being caught," said the police officer from Vithalwadi police station.
The police said Mahadik approached the Vitthalwadi police and registered a case under section 392 (punishment of robbery) of the Indian penal code.
Kanaya Thorat, senior police inspector, Vitthalwadi police station formed a team headed by Harshal Rajput, police sub-inspector and detection officers to trace the accused involved in the robbery. "The team further started scrutinizing the CCTV footage from the locality. A man running on the way was found in the footage. A picture from the footage was developed and shown to the victim. She confirmed about the accused. However, a search to trace the accused was started," said a police officer.
The police said with the help picture and through the local network information was received about the accused seen roaming near Kaka dhaba, Nandivli, Kalyan. The accused was arrested and identified as Rahul Anant Mohite 25, a resident of Nandivli in Kalyan. "Mohite is married and is addicted to online games. He claims he usually used to play online games and recently lost a hefty amount to online games. However, to cover it up he planned to snatch the gold chain. As it was an easy way to earn fast money. We have recovered the gold mangalsutra and are further investigating to check if he has any past records," added a police officer.
